Manuel returned to practice on Sunday and has apparently improved enough from his knee injury to earn the starting nod against the New England Patriots this week. Manuel would get the call to start over undrafted free agent Jeff Tuel, who the Bills had been preparing to start if Manuel was unable to play.

Manuel played well in two preseason games before getting injured. He completed 26 of 33 passes (79-percent) for 199 yards and two touchdowns in games against the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings.

Those Bills are so darn sneaky. Who in a million years would have guessed this. I bet BB is going to be up all night tonight trying to figure out just what the heck he’s going to do now.

craniator says:Sep 3, 2013 11:12 PM

Since the Patriots will probably be 14 point favorites , and will win by probably twice twice that number , there is no real pressure on Manuel , because he isn’t expected to lead the Bills to a win. Starting him on Sunday makes sense.

sammyscrawfo says:Sep 3, 2013 11:15 PM

There could not be a better way for him to start his career than a win against the Pats.

I’ll wait until Wednesday afternoon for Marrone press conference for the announcement.

dxh02 says:Sep 3, 2013 11:23 PM

Well, Chandler Jones All-Pro campaign is off to a torrid start…

jackdaniels1 says:Sep 3, 2013 11:24 PM

This is a big career move for EJ as last year he was manning the snack bar at the local driving range

reconl63 says:Sep 3, 2013 11:25 PM

This is of little importance. In a year or two the Bills will leave the terrible trash heap of Buffalo and arrive in the sunny and beautiful city of Los Angeles, which is far superior in every way. Not only that, but we have a real fanbase that can actually support a team, much unlike the terrible city known as Buffalo. Sorry guys, we all know how this will end.

The fact that they only have 2 qb’s on the active roster shows that Manuel was cleared to start when they released Leinart and Lewis.
If Tuel was going to start, it would only be because Manuel was hurt, and if Manuel was hurt, then he wouldn’t be able to be the #2 qb on gameday.

EJ is the only legitimate starting QB from his draft class. Geno will bust unless he can grow up first. I don’t see the fire in Glennon that it takes to lead a team. Barkley could be a solid starter down the road, but not a franchise QB. Everyone wants to say the Bills really reached in the draft, but I beg to differ. They were able to trade down and still get the guy they wanted all along (with two WRs, Woods and Goodwin, to go along with it). I am excited to see EJ play this year. (Not even a Bills fan #KCNation)

sketchydave says:Sep 4, 2013 12:46 AM

Lets go. Finally a first round draft pick to start for the bills. So sick of retreads of guys who have been hit in the head too many times.

*Prays to the football gods that this kid is legit.* – longtime Bills fan

mulehead70 says:Sep 4, 2013 2:49 AM

Great….I better take Tuel off my fantasy team.

Bwaaaaaahhhhhh hahahahah

vbbills says:Sep 4, 2013 2:54 AM

A prediction:

13-22 209 1 TD 1 INT 2 Sacks 47 Rushing 1 TD.

Rushing TD comes near the end of the 4th on a 22 yard scamper and the Ralph explodes! Bills lead 31-28 with 1:20 left. NE has three timeouts with Brady under center at his own 20. The noise alone was enough to carry Dan Carpenters kickoff into the stands…

After the Bills showed their true colors in how they shafted Leinart (how can anyone expect any QB who has not been in a training camp and up to playing speed without any game condition practices against full out defenses to actually do any better than Leinart?). Now the Bills are ready to throw their wonderkid first round draft pick Manual against the Patriots who are going to conceal, confuse, and outwit Manual to where he does not know which way is up.

I wonder if Manual will actually get through the game unscathed? I would bet we will see Tule-Time and I hope the kid shows flashes of being a good player, even though his Pro Day video showed mainly short and medium passes. Hitch, go, and seam routes were not a part of his Pro Day video, and the few long passes were rainbows. Betcha Belichick has his defenses ready to pounce on either one of these guys!

The only way the Bills can dream of winning this one is if the Patriots beat themselves.